Set top boxes are used in the cable industry for interfacing between the cable network and various customer premise devices. For a number of years, set top boxes have been mainly used for receiving television programming and/or other content along with menu information and for providing an interface through which a customer can access the available content. For example, cable set top boxes have been used for a number of years to allow a cable service subscriber to access video and/or other content available through the network, e.g., with the content such as, for example, a television program or movie, being displayed on a television set coupled to the set top box. Older set top boxes supported relatively limited upstream data communication with the amount of available upstream bandwidth being used to support, e.g., communication of user pay-per-view content selections or other user selections or requests.
While data storage devices are becoming relatively cheap, until recently the high cost of storage devices encouraged the use of centralized network storage to implement some video recorder functions. Network based video recording devices, which could be controlled and accessed by individual cable subscribers are sometimes referred to as Network Personal Video Recorders. In such systems, a cable subscriber accesses video recording functionality through a set top box with content being stored and retrieved from a network based storage device. Older set top boxes are able to take advantage of such systems since the upstream data rate required to communicate information to the network headend where content storage and streaming functions are implemented tends to be relatively minimal.
As the cost of storage devices, e.g., hard disks, have dropped in price, customer premise based personal video recorder devices have grown in popularity. Such devices offer some advantages over network PVR devices including the ability to immediately access content without concern for network delays and/or network service interruptions due to, e.g., weather or service outages.
PVR devices have grown in such popularity that many set top boxes are now available with PVR capability built in allowing, e.g., a cable service subscriber to record TV shows and/or other content in a set top box located in their home. In fact, many cable service subscribers now have multiple set top boxes in their homes with PVR functionality.
Set top boxes with PVR capability provide the cable company the opportunity to charge a monthly service fee for the added PVR capability. Thus, for example, rental of a set top box with PVR functionality might cost a fixed amount above rental of a set top box without PVR capability. Given the potential revenue that can be generated by providing set top box PVRs, cable and other service providers have been encouraging subscribers to use an ever larger number of set top box PVRs.
As set top box PVR based use increases, the demand for network based PVR functionality is likely to decrease over time. Cable and other content providers who have deployed network based PVRs are now confronted with an increasing tendency towards STB based PVRs but still have a desire to obtain commercial advantages through the use of the existing network PVR capability in which they have already invested.
While STB based PVRs continue to grow in popularity, cable companies are faced with another problem, i.e., maintaining customer satisfaction as new STB PVR device capabilities increase and/or customers decide to upgrade to High Definition (HD) capable STB devices including HD STB based PVRs.
As a subscriber uses his/her STB based PVR over time, the subscriber's video and/or other content stored on the STB tends to grow often requiring an upgrade to a STB PVR with greater internal storage capacity. Similarly, when a user switches from a regular to an HD television there also tends to be a need to upgrade significantly in terms of the STB PVR storage capability given the vastly larger size of HD programs.
While upgrading, e.g., by replacing, STB PVRs often provides an opportunity to obtain greater revenue from increased fees associated with premium HD service and/or increased rental fees for a larger capacity STB PVR, cable companies are confronted with the relatively costly task of sending a service man out to replace the users STB PVR with a different, e.g., newer one with greater storage capacity or functionality, as part of a STB upgrade process.
For subscriber's concerned about maintaining their stored content, installation may involve the time consuming task of copying the subscriber's content to a portable data storage device and then copying it back to the replacement STB PVR. As should be appreciated, the cost of the service technician's time for such a process can be considerable particularly in cases where there is a large amount of stored content to be copied from the old STB PVR and then recorded to the new STB PVR.
In view of the above discussion, it should be appreciated that there is a need for improved ways of upgrading STB PVRs without the loss of a subscriber's previously recorded content. It would be desirable if one or more methods could be developed which could reduce or eliminate the need for a service technician's involvement in the replacement process which is performed as part of a STB upgrade or at least reduce or simplify the tasks performed by technician at the customer's premises.